


Small Acts of Devotion

by TheIneffableLily



Category: American Gods (TV)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Dom/sub Undertones, Guilt, M/M, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Reunion Sex, Shower Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:35:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23765452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIneffableLily/pseuds/TheIneffableLily
Summary: He'd had plenty of time to sit with his own thoughts, trying to find an explanation for such a flagrant lack of judgment. There wasn't one, though, and now that everything was quiet, that decision weighed heavily on the jinn's shoulders.Mortal men were naive. They lived impossibly short lives with the unshakable certainty that they were going to live forever, yet they caused pain and destruction with the entitlement of a species who didn't survive long enough to taste the consequences of their actions. However, even by human standards, Salim was gullible and inexperienced. He'd crossed multiple state lines only to look for the jinn. He probably thought he was in love.
Relationships: The Jinn | Ifrit/Salim (American Gods)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 95





	Small Acts of Devotion

Salim hadn't said a word since the jinn had helped him off the motorcycle, but the moment he saw Mama-Ji leaving the motel room, his eyebrows arched with surprise and curiosity. She appraised them with a face that seemed to be perpetually set in an expression of disappointment. She told the jinn, “Don't forget to tip, Ifrit,” a note of warning in what could have otherwise passed as playful banter among old acquaintances. “If you can't pay for the room, you can at least show the crew your gratitude.”

The jinn knew better than to defy her, especially after the night they'd had. Even Salim, who knew very little of gods who were not his own, gave her a slight bow of the head when she pushed her cleaning cart past him. Once she was out of sight and the jinn was opening the bedroom door, Salim said, “She was at the House on the Rock.”

“Yes.”

“She was still there when we left. How is she here?”

As far as questions went, that one was difficult to answer. Still, he knew there were more complicated questions to come in the next few weeks, so he told him, “She's in every Motel America,” and hoped that would make enough sense.

Salim nodded even though it was clear he could only barely wrap his mind around what the jinn had told him.

“Are they hers?” he asked.

“They might as well be. Go get your bag.”

The jinn entered the room while his companion fetched his belongings from the motorcycle. He'd packed light for the long trip, bringing along only a change of clothes and a few toiletries. The jinn hadn't packed at all.

He tossed the scarf and the jacket on top of the double bed and momentarily considered asking Mama-Ji for a cot. Then, Salim entered the room and only glanced at the bed, a wave of anxiety emanating from him. There was arousal somewhere in there, too, if the jinn wasn't mistaken, but Salim swallowed those feelings down and said, “I need to pray.”

The jinn didn't acknowledge that and simply stated, “I need a shower,” before disappearing into the minuscule bathroom and giving Salim some privacy with his god and his own thoughts.

What he actually needed was a strong drink and a dose of good sense, both of which he was clearly lacking. Letting a mortal man tag along hadn't been clever. Wednesday hadn't said a word about it because he was in no position to turn down bodies, especially those of devoted men, but he'd seen the way Anansi had stared at Salim at the diner. He wasn't happy about that unexpected complication and the jinn knew he'd have no problem being quite vocal about it if given the opportunity.

Truth was, Anansi would be right to do so. In a moment of weakness, he'd let himself be convinced by an offer of help and a pair of pleading brown eyes.

_Sweeney has a point. You've got shit for brains._

The jinn kicked away the rest of his clothes and folded the sunglasses on top of the sink. While riding, the roar of the motorcycle had made conversation impossible, so he'd had plenty of time to sit with his own thoughts, trying to find an explanation for such a flagrant lack of judgment. There wasn't one, though, and now that everything was quiet, that decision weighed heavily on his shoulders.

Mortal men were naive. They lived impossibly short lives with the unshakable certainty that they were going to live forever, yet they caused pain and destruction with the entitlement of a species who didn't survive long enough to taste the consequences of their actions. However, even by human standards, Salim was gullible and inexperienced. He'd crossed multiple state lines only to look for him. He probably thought he was in love.

The jinn looked in the mirror. The flames in his eyes were still bright but they were meek and the lines on his face felt deeper somehow. He could also feel his muscles ache after the long ride. And he was tired. It felt as though he'd been tired for decades.

Not wanting to confront the mirror or think about the ache in his bones, he stepped into the shower and turned the tap all the way up. The water hit him with a cold blast that soon faded to a lukewarm, halfhearted drip. It wasn't enough to soothe the soreness or clear his thoughts, but at least he'd be clean. After that, he'd decide what to do.

He'd been under the water for a good five minutes when Salim entered the bathroom. The jinn had his eyes closed, but he could tell he was already naked by the way he hesitated in the doorway. When he pulled the shower curtain open, even the creak of the metal hooks was a timid, apologetic sound. He clearly expected the jinn to tell him to get out, that this wasn't the time nor the place. It'd be right to do so. It'd be _smart_ to do so. He didn't, though.

Motel America wasn't known for its five-star accommodations, but this one was particularly grimy. Or perhaps Mama-Ji had granted him the worst available room. The shower box was big enough to hold both of them inside, but they were only inches apart.

Salim stammered the beginning of a sentence. The jinn grabbed the little block of soap handed it to him without bothering to turn. He didn't want to talk.

“Wash me,” the jinn told him. He knew Salim would take this as an invitation to sex and that would only complicate things, but fuck it. He knew they'd end up in bed the moment he allowed Salim to get in his bike, even if he'd promised to control himself. He'd never exercised restraint in thousands of years. Why would he start now?

 _We might as well_ , the jinn told himself under the inconstant drip of the water. _Can't fuck this up any worse._

Salim reached for his back, the palms of his hands rubbing his shoulder as though trying to assess whether this was real or not. He was happy. The jinn could tell as much. He was scared, too, but that was barely a whisper in the wave of contentment that traveled through his body and seeped from his fingers.

The jinn rested his palms against the tile and closed his eyes while Salim eased the knots on his shoulders. The ache that had been plaguing his body for days began to fade. He let Salim feel the muscles on his arms, then rub is chest and belly clean. He could feel his lips flutter on the back of his neck, never daring to kiss even though it was clear that he wanted to.

The jinn closed his eyes and felt his touch moved down his belly and inside his thighs, close enough to brush against his erection without even trying to hold it. He could tell Salim wasn't teasing, just very afraid to cross a line despite of the fact that they were standing next to each other with nothing but droplets of water in between their bodies.

The jinn concentrated, moving past the sound of the water and the warm, wet feeling of Salim's hands and he looked for words scattered in the air. Standing this close, Salim's mind was loud and clear though his thoughts were hesitant.

_I want to-_

_I want it-_

_I want you-_

_I want-_

All of that attention... all of that _restraint_... fuck, it was the closest to worship he'd gotten in years. The jinn held him by the wrist and guided him to his cock. It was all of the permission Salim needed before stroking him.

They'd only lied together once, though the jinn had fucked him three times that night until they'd both been too exhausted to do anything other than sleep in each other's arms. Even so, the jinn hadn't allowed Salim to touch him then since he'd long learned not to make himself vulnerable when lying with mortal men. Harmless as they might seem, they were a cunning folk.

If he were to be honest, he'd also been overcome with pity. Salim had knelt at his feet with such practiced subservience, such willingness to give with no expectation of having his affection returned, that he jinn made the decision of breaking his own rules and granting him the one thing he clearly desired. It was just a little bit of attention. It was just sex.

And a new life, though the jinn maintained that had been a mutually beneficial exchange, not exactly a wish.

Now, Salim was stroking him so deliciously that the jinn wished he'd let him worship his body sooner. Salim tightened his grip and twisted his wrist as he stroke the length of his cock in a pace that became less and less timid.

The jinn turned around abruptly. Salim took a step back, only to find the freezing tile and startling forward. The jinn wrapped his arms around his small frame before he had the chance to slip and break a leg.

“Sorry. Cold,” Salim said, already nuzzling the jinn's neck. This time, he gave it a kiss.

The jinn humphed an amused sound and stroked him from his shoulders to his ass, warming him more than the slow drip of water. Salim was a sweet man. His world wasn't meant for men like him but he was so willing to worship, if not with his faith, then at least with his body and heart. His hand slipped in between Salim's cheeks, drawing a little whimper out of him.

“I-” Salim started, but the jinn didn't let him finish. He pressed his lips to his and kissed him deeply, slowly, savoring his devotion.

He wasn't sure how they made their way from the shower to the bed, all he knew was that they were soaking the sheets. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he worried Mama-Ji might come for his head if he ruined the mattress, but it was difficult to concentrate on such things when Salim was looking up at him so adoringly.

The jinn pressed two fingers to his lips.

Salim turned his head. In a quiet voice that sounded like an admission of guilt, he said, “I... I got... in my bag.”

The jinn paused. For the first time in days, he cracked a smile. It must have looked at least a little self-satisfied because shame washed over Salim so quickly it colored him bright red. He tried to turn and hide his face in the mattress, but the Jinn held him gently by the chin.

“No, look at me.”

His voice was as soft as his grip but Salim didn't try to escape him and gazed right into the flames in his eyes.

“Is that what you've done since I left you in that hotel room? You looked for me, thinking of all the ways you needed me to fuck you?”

All Salim managed to do was nod. The jinn kissed him on the lips until the shame subsided. Salim sighed with relief.

The jinn untangled himself from his lover quickly and rummaged through his travel bag without even get out of bed. The bottle of lube was wrapped in a t-shirt and stuffed in the bottom of the bag, the same way a person might hide something illegal. Salim was still flushed when the jinn pulled him closer so that he was straddling his lap.

The jinn leaned back on the mattress to better take a look at him. Salim was a handsome man, especially like this: his legs spread and his cock hard, not a trace of shame in his eyes anymore. All he could see was absolute devotion on his face.

The jinn slicked his own cock with lube. “So eager... so faithful...”

Salim positioned himself on top of his cock and let his body weigh down on him, enveloping the jinn in wonderful warmth. Salim gasped at the pressure, pleased and perhaps a little pained.

The jinn passed an arm around him and kissed his throat.

“Too much?”

Salim panted. “It's good... you're so good...”

He spread his knees further apart and slid lower, eager for more. The jinn shushed him as his breathless voice turned into a whine.

“Don't hurt yourself.”

“I want... I need...”

“Slowly. We have all night and you're doing so well.”

The jinn could feel a bout of desperation traveling through Salim's body as he waited, half of the jinn's cock inside of him. He knew that a seedy side-road motel couldn't be what this mortal man had pictured when he thought of this reunion. Yet, there was no hesitation in him as he moved with his hips. He was happy. It radiated from him just as much as pleasure.

This was where he wanted to be, not in this room, but on the jinn's bed. In the jinn's arms.

He loosened his grip just a little and Salim and let his body sheathe his cock. Salim threw his head back, mouth wide open as he gasped for air. The jinn kissed his neck and chest, delighted in the tightness of his body, the smell of his skin, the sound of his shallow breathing as his lover ground on his hips, deeper and faster, chasing a pleasure he'd dreamed about for months and that was now at the tip of his fingers.

Moving closer to orgasm, it was hard for the jinn to focus on anything other than the overwhelming pleasure, but he could hear Salim cry out a meaningless sound as he came. He could hear his thoughts scatter in a mess of want and joy. And somewhere in the mess, the jinn caught hold of something shapeless that was beginning to take hold on Salim's mind.

 _I love him_.

If he were clever, he would have put an end to it right then and there, but there was very little blood running to his head at the moment and- fuck, he was close. He flipped Salim on his back and pushed roughly in and out of his body, that innocent-looking thought cementing itself in Salim's mind with thrust.

_I love him._

_I love him._

_I need him._

_I love him._

_I love-_

Salim came again, his thoughts blessedly muted in the shock of coming a second time.

The jinn followed immediately.

For a good ten minutes, neither of them moved nor said a word, the only sounds in the room being that of their ragged breathing. He could indulge in the post-orgasmic bliss for only a few minutes, he was allowed that much. It muted the promise of war and the knowledge that he'd just made things ten times more complicated than they had to be.

He rolled on his back. He wasn't aching anymore. If anything, he felt better now than he had in months.

“Thank you.”

Salim's voice was timid, suddenly awkward now that the sex was out of the way.

The jinn sighed. At least he hadn't made a love confession.

“What are you doing here?” he asked without looking at him.

Salim was still out of breath and took a moment to answer in the dark. “I came to find you.”

“No, why did you ask to come with me?”

The question sounded almost harsh and he could tell Salim was taken aback by that.

“You had the chance to go anywhere,” the jinn told him. “You could have done anything, been anyone else. You gain nothing by being here with me.”

Salim held on to his hand and gave it a squeeze. It was a pleading gesture and the jinn could feel something cold coming from his side of the bed. He was afraid the jinn would send him away now that the sex was over. He didn't want to find out this had been nothing but a quickie motivated by grief and fear.

 _He could use a heartbreak_ , the jinn thought, unkindly. Hurt was the only thing that thickened the skin of good men.

“What did you think was going to happen when you found me?”

Silence. Then a quiet, “I don't know. I suppose... I figured it wouldn't make things worse.”

The jinn turned on his side and rested on his elbow so that he was looking down on Salim and his devoted eyes. He'd been an idiot. They should have done this _before_ fucking. They should have done this before they even left the House on the Rock.

“By coming with me, you are putting a target on your back-”

“I don't think-”

“Listen to what I am saying,” he cut in. Salim snapped his mouth shut. “There isn't a happy ending when this is over. Whatever fairy tale you've built this up to be in your head, this isn't it. There are other men, Salim. Mortal men who are not at war. There is a life that can be anything you want it to be. Do you understand what I am saying?”

Under the light of the flames, Salim's eyes looked bright and wet. He nodded.

The jinn stroked his head. The gesture was more full of pity than affection.

“It is better for you to go. My world is not safe for you.”

Much to his surprise, Salim shrugged. “The world has never been safe for me.”

It was the jinn's turn to go quiet. Then, he said, “That's different.”

“Why?” Salim asked him, challenging him to give him a good answer. “What is it that gods can do to me that other people can't? Are they going to jail me? Are they going to throw me off of a roof because of what I just did with you? Do you think that they can hurt me any worse than my own people can?”

“That's not- you're missing the point.”

“i was afraid in Oman,” Salim continued. “I was still afraid in New York. With you, I feel safe. I feel happy.” He rubbed the jinn's chest. “I know this means very little to you.”

He paused to let the jinn contradict him. He didn't.

“It's okay if this is all you want from me, but if you gave me the freedom to go anywhere, I would rather take my chances with you.”

The jinn huffed with exasperation and sat up. “You're a foolish man.”

Salim waited as the jinn went through arguments in his head. What could gods do to him that humans couldn't? Quite a lot of things, but he doubted Salim could grasp that concept. He was too stubborn for that.

And the fact remained that he wasn't tired anymore. In fact, he felt stronger.

Begrudgingly, the jinn said, “You're gonna do what I say.”

Salim sat up, suddenly hopeful.

“Okay.”

“ _Everything_ that I say. I'm not carrying your death in my conscience.”

“I will. Everything.” Salim cuddled up to him and kissed him on the shoulder. “I promise.”

Salim's wet, brown eyes were suddenly bright. He was happy, and he was devoted to the jinn the way only a stubborn man could be.

 _This isn't going to last_ , the jinn thought. He gave it a week or two, no more than that. Mortal men were fickle. They never stuck around.

Salim kissed the side of his neck, so very thankful. He kept on kissing him.

Men never worshiped for long. Sooner or later, they all moved on. But the jinn might hold on to this one while he still could.


End file.
